TOPIC: The Winner Corsair Gets a New Home

Good Morning Everyone,

Yesterday was a terrific day. My nephew, his brother and I traveled to CT to pick up the Winner Corsair that Todd (thetudor) arrainged. Again, many thanks to Todd.

The trip took about 4 hours each way and really was pretty uneventful - a good think when retrieving an old classic.

The best part of the journey was meeting the owner - a 90 year young lady named Sylvia. She was beaming as we put air in the tires and pulled the Corsair from the spot where she had resided since sometime in the mid-1980s. Her son, Jhn, was also on hand. Both are wonderful people and are anxious to see the boat be refurbished. Sylvia related many fond memories with her husband amd kids on the Corsair. I've promised to keep her in the loop with the renovation progress.

THE PLAN:

The boat is actually for my nephew and his family. He is a very talented wood worker - a real asset when rebuilding the wooden cabin appointments in a cruiser. Jeff's brother, Bob, is a super guy who is always willing to lend a hand and will no doubt be deeply involved in the project.

The hull and upper deck are in really sound shape. The finish will be sanded down and redone, possibly in the original blue and white combinaiton. All of the original windows are intact, pretty clear and will be re-used. The seals are shot but I am very sure replacements can be easily found. The original hardware is in great shape, will be rechromed and reinstalled.

As far as we can tell so far, the transom is solid as a rock!!! I knocked all over it and found only solid material with no sign of rot. Keep the fingers crossed!!!

All of the wood work will need redone but its all there and the original pieces can be used as patterns. I think teak or ipe would be good choices for the new boat house. A bit more expensive that ply but the finish will be high end and more durable. Jeff has the ability to make the wood work "furniture" grade with his talents.

The trailer is a Michigan brand and a very heavy duty beast. Extremely advanced for the age, the trailer has a "kneel" feature that lowers it and, according to the original literature that was provided with it, allows the boat to be launched in as little as 8" of water. The kneel feature works via a hydraulic cylinder. I imagine this feature was also utilized by owners to get the boat past lower garage doors for storage, too. It will get new lights as part of its renovation.

Attached is a few pics of the pickup, Sylvia and John. More to come as progress is made.

Todd,

Let me be the first to say congratulations! As I said before, the boat found the right home. Best of luck with the restoration. It will be a great boat for your nephew. I'll be real interested in hearing about the progress.

I'm glad the trailer made the trip OK. I was a little bit nervous about that, but it does look a lot better on the road than it did in the driveway.

I'm assuming that you found the stuff in the cockpit to get to John G. I would have liked to have been there when you picked it up, but my schedule was a little too tight and I didn't want to hold you up, given you drive with an unknown trailer.

T

Good luck!

I assisted John (the son) about 5 years ago with idenifying the boat and verifying her make, model and year.

Andreas

todd thats fantastic news,and the boat is very cool,it will be a real looker when you all are done with it.
sylvia and john are special folks,letting there memories go,but they are giving them to the right person,i know you ,and your nephews will make it great again,and make even more great memories,john

andreas,you are a very important part of fg,you have helped so many figure out what they have,your a great wealth of knowledge.
and a friend to so many,i thank you,karma to you.john